Delta Wild
by Engage Fiction
Summary: In this AU, Chakotay and Kathryn Janeway's daughter sneaks aboard Voyager before the Badlands mission and becomes stranded in the DQ with the rest of the crew.  This story was on here before, but I'm reposting because of a request from a reader.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Story #1 in the "More Than A Lifetime" series

Author's Note: This story is the first in a series of stories that do not follow canon and should not be taken as such. The events in this story occur in an alternate universe in which Chakotay's stint with the Maquis happened much earlier in his life. He is married to Kathryn Janeway, and they have a daughter. In this universe, _Voyager_ did not combine with a crew from a Maquis ship, but instead reached the Delta Quadrant with a small loss of life and most of her crew in tact.

xxx

Seventeen-year-old Danielle Janeway sat on the couch in her quarters, preparing to receive the admonishment she knew was coming. She watched as her mother paced back and forth in front of her.

"I've told you time and time again that you are not to go orbital sky diving on the holodeck," Kathryn Janeway said to her daughter. "It's just too dangerous. I wouldn't let my most skilled officer do that, much less my daughter."

"It's not like it's a big deal," Dani said. "I mean, the safety protocols were on."

Kathryn looked down at her daughter. "Have you been listening to a word I've been saying? It's dangerous," she said sternly.

Dani looked away from her mother. She wished she would stop being so overprotective of her. After all, it wasn't as if she were a little girl anymore. She stood.

"Well, it's not like there's anything else to do around here!" Dani exploded. "I don't do anything."

"What do you mean you don't do anything? You almost got yourself killed on the holodeck today. I'd definitely call that something."

"That's not what I mean." Dani stepped to the side and out from in front of her mother. She turned to face Kathryn once again. "I'm talking about a job."

"Is that what this is all about?" Kathryn asked, taking a few steps toward her daughter. "A job?"

"No, it's about boredom! I am bored out of my wits around here." Dani started to pace around the small space. "You won't let me run the programs I want to run. I can't talk to anyone because everyone's always busy." She stopped pacing and looked at Kathryn. "What do you want me to do? Sit around here and rot?"

"Listen," Kathryn said stepping toward Dani, "I made it clear to you when we first entered the Delta Quadrant that this was going to be difficult. We've all had to make sacrifices." She saw Dani roll her dark eyes but decided to go on anyway.

'Here we go again,' Dani thought.

"Do you think your father and I enjoy being here?" Kathryn asked. "Away from Earth and the rest of the family? If we could, we would be back in the Alpha quadrant tomorrow, Dani, but we can't. We are doing everything in our power to get back home, but frankly, you're not making it any easier. Time that I could be spending working on ways to get home, I have to spend making sure that you're not off breaking your neck in some holodeck program. And it's got to stop, Dani. It's got to stop."

Dani looked off to the side. Kathryn was staring a hole in her, and yet, Dani still refused to return her stare. Dani's arms were crossed defiantly over her chest. It was a position Kathryn was used to seeing by now. And she was tired of it.

"Go to your room," Kathryn said. "You're grounded."

Dani looked at her mother. She had expected the lecture, but she hadn't expected this. Dani figured that she must've really crossed the line this time. Her mother had only grounded her once before, when she'd first sneaked onto the ship. She'd only been twelve then. That's how she'd ended up on the ship in the first place...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Twelve-year-old Dani Janeway materialized on the pad in _Voyager's_ transporter room. She looked around the room. Thankfully, no one was in there. All of the crew had beamed aboard earlier that day.

'If I'm lucky, I might be able to go the whole trip with out getting caught,' Dani thought as she left the transporter room.

She ventured into the hallway, cautiously looking all around her. To her surprise, she didn't see any crew in the hallway. She walked on with a little more confidence. Then she stopped. She couldn't wander the hallways forever. She needed a hiding place. She listened. Footsteps. Someone was coming. She would need to find a hiding place fast. She looked around, but there was nowhere. She couldn't risk going into a room. There could be someone in it. Her eyes scanned the wall she was standing beside, from top to bottom.

And there it was. Her salvation - a jeffries tube. She bent down and, with some force, removed the cover. She scurried into the tube. Once she was in, she reached out and picked up the door. She pulled it shut.

Just as the conduit door was being pulled shut, Captain Kathryn Janeway was coming around the corner. Tuvok, _Voyager's_ chief tactical officer, was with her.

"All systems are on-line and operating at peak efficiency," Tuvok reported.

"Thank you, Lt.," the captain said. "Are we ready to disembark?"

"We are." The two stepped into a waiting turbo lift. The doors slid closed, and the turbo lift began to move upward.

"Are you ready for this, Lt.?" Janeway asked her second officer. The Vulcan continued to stare straight ahead.

"Please elaborate?"

Janeway sighed and rephrased her question. "Are you prepared to undertake this mission?"

Tuvok looked at his captain. "Yes. I must say that I am very well-prepared."

"What about our crew?" Janeway asked. "Do you think they can handle this?"

"The first voyage of a new ship is always...trying," Tuvok said. "However, I believe we have an exceptional crew and that the transition will be less trying than usual."

Tuvok's assurance that they had a good crew somehow made Kathryn feel better about the first assignment on this new ship.

The turbo lift came to a halt and the doors opened. Kathryn glided onto the bridge.

"Captain on the bridge!" someone announced. The crew members on the bridge stood abruptly at attention.

Kathryn proceeded slowly toward the captain's chair. _Her_ chair. Chakotay stood in front of his chair, which was positioned beside hers. Kathryn stopped in front of her chair. She turned and looked at the officers, _her_ officers, standing around the bridge.

"At ease," Kathryn said. The officers relaxed and went back to doing what they were doing before she'd arrived. Kathryn looked at her first officer, who remained standing in front of his chair.

"Welcome to the bridge, Captain," Chakotay said with a little grin. Kathryn grinned back at him.

"Thank you, Commander," Kathryn said. Chakotay gestured toward the captain's chair. Kathryn looked at it. She walked over and sat down. Chakotay sat down only after she did. 'Chivalry,' Kathryn thought, running her hands over the arms of the chair. A brand new ship. All hers. She looked at her helm officer, Tom Paris, sitting at the pilot's station. He was facing her, awaiting her orders.

"Mr. Paris," Kathryn said, "take us out."

"Aye-aye, Captain," Paris said, swiveling around to face his console. Kathryn watched the view screen intently as the ship slowly moved away from Deep Space Nine.

"Did Dani seem okay when you left her?" Chakotay asked.

"Yes," Kathryn answered. "Why?"

"She seemed upset earlier," Chakotay revealed. Kathryn looked over at her husband.

"Oh, you mean _that_?" Kathryn asked. "Yes, she was still a little upset, but she's just going to have to get over it, Chakotay. We've both got jobs to do and she's just going to have to learn how to accept that." She kept her voice low, so that the other crew members couldn't hear the content of their conversation.

"But, Kathryn - you have to understand that this is a big change for her. And it is a little sudden. It's going to take a little getting used to. For all of us. We'd gotten into a pretty comfortable routine when I was teaching at the Academy."

"I know. I just thought that now that she's older, she could handle it. In fact, I thought she'd enjoy some time to herself," Kathryn admitted. "I mean, in a few years, she's going to be begging us to leave her alone."

"We just need to give her time," Chakotay said.

Chakotay and Kathryn looked at the view screen ahead of them. They were no longer at one of DS9's space docks. The captain and the first officer exchanged a glance, then Kathryn looked back at the screen.

"Mr. Paris, set a course for the Badlands and engage," Kathryn ordered. "Warp five." Within a few seconds, the stars that lay ahead of them became streaks of white as the ship jumped to warp.

Xxx

When Dani opened her eyes, she forgot where she was for a moment and then immediately remembered. She was inside one of the jeffries tubes onboard _Voyager_. She realized that she must've fallen asleep, but she had no idea for how long.

"Computer," Dani summoned, "What time is it?"

Before the computer could reply, a violent tremor rocked through _Voyager_. Dani was thrown around inside the small area a few times before she was able to brace herself. It was a good attempt, but it was in vain because the shaking grew in intensity and became almost unbearable. The ship tilted, and Dani lost her grip. She slid backwards, headfirst, toward an intersection. Her body turned. She hit the back panel with considerable force and was held there by gravity.

After about two minutes, the shaking ceased, and the pressure being exerted on Dani was lifted. How she survived without passing out was a mystery, but Dani wasn't one to question things like that. She rolled over and gave a silent prayer of thanks. Then she decided that the best course of action would be to let her presence be known. She got up on all fours and started crawling toward the exit. It would mean a serious chiding from her parents, but she had to find out what was going on. If Dani had understood correctly, this was only supposed to be a negotiation mission. That's why she'd decided to sneak on board in the first place. It wasn't supposed to be anything serious.

Xxx

On the bridge, members of the crew had also experienced the extreme turbulence that Dani had. It had been so bad that people had been thrown from chairs. Everyone was on the ground.

Kathryn slowly pulled herself to her feet, surveying the damage on the bridge as she stood. Some of the officers were getting up, as well. Some were not. Kathryn helped Chakotay to his feet.

"You alright, Commander?" Kathryn mumbled.

"Never better," Chakotay replied, rubbing his forehead. Kathryn walked over to Tom Paris, who was lying on his back next to his station. He was coming around, but slowly. She reached down and felt to make sure there was a pulse. When she was satisfied there was one, she called his name and shook him lightly. He opened his eyes.

"Wha-what happened?" he managed to say. Kathryn managed to help him to his feet. Chakotay and the few other crew members who had remained conscious after coming through the turbulence were doing the same to other crew members.

"I don't know," Kathryn said, answering Tom's question. "Report!" she ordered to anyone who could respond. Chakotay manned a computer console on a wall and started to read out a list of damaged systems.

"Propulsion's out," he said. "So are navigation, shields, main power on all decks..." He paused as he sifted through the never-ending list. "Just about everything." He looked at Kathryn. "Whatever got us got us good."

"Do we have communications?" Kathryn asked. She waited as Chakotay searched through the list.

"Yes," he finally said.

"Good. Put me through to Starfleet Command." Kathryn waited to be patched through. When it didn't happen, she turned to Chakotay.

"Commander," she said.

"I can't," Chakotay said.

"Why not? I thought you said we had communications."

"We do have communications. We also have sensors, and right now the sensors are giving me some information you might not be too happy to hear."

"Commander, there's a lot I'm not too happy about right now. I'm sure one more thing couldn't hurt."

"I think I'd have to disagree. Sensor readings show that we are no longer in the Alpha quadrant."

"Gamma?" Kathryn asked, already contemplating a run-in with the Jem-Hedar or the Dominion. Chakotay looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite pinpoint, even though they'd been married for nearly 15 years. It was that of fear, shock, surprise, and uncertainty.

"Delta," he said. Kathryn looked back at the view screen. They had been transported to the Delta quadrant? But that was over 70,000 light years away from the Alpha quadrant. That meant that it would take them...

Kathryn's thoughts were interrupted by the voice that came from her comm badge. "Security to Bridge." Kathryn tapped her comm badge.

"Captain here," she said. Tuvok, the ship's chief of security, spoke.

"Captain, there's someone I think you should meet with."

"Lt., can this possibly wait till some other time? Perhaps someone else could see to it right now. I've got so many problems, I don't know where to start."

"Captain, I strongly advise that you see to this matter yourself." Kathryn sighed.

"All right, Lt. Bring whoever it is to my ready room," she said. "Janeway out." She and Chakotay looked at each other as she walked across the bridge to her ready room. He was helping more people to their feet.

Kathryn walked into her ready room and looked around, assessing the damage the room had sustained. Surprisingly, it wasn't too severe. A few things tossed to the floor. She bent down and picked up a few PADDs that had been thrown to the floor. She placed them on her desk. Her comm badge chirped. Chakotay's voice flowed into the room.

"Chakotay to Janeway," he said. Kathryn tapped the device resting on her chest.

"Yes, Commander-what is it?" she asked.

"I'd like to go down to engineering," the commander said. "I can't seem to get any sensor readings from that area."

"Go ahead, Commander."

"Chakotay out."

Kathryn walked over to the counter beside the ready room doors. There was nothing resting on it, as there should have been. Kathryn's eyes wandered from the barren counter to the floor. The contents of the counter were scattered across the floor, in front of the table and the couch. She sighed and looked up from the floor to the mirror hanging over the counter. She was surprised to see that it was still on the wall. She was also surprised by her appearance. She hadn't had a chance to look in the mirror before now and, frankly, her appearance was horrid. Her short auburn hair was scattered about her head, and she had small scratches on her cheek from where she'd scraped herself when she'd fallen. She'd also managed to bang her head in the process, and a nasty bruise was developing on her forehead.

While she was studying her reflection, the door chimed. She combed her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to tame her wild locks and then turned and walked over to her desk.

"Come," she said. Tuvok entered. There was someone behind him, but Kathryn couldn't see who it was.

"I believe there is someone you'd like to speak with," the Vulcan said.

"Yes, Tuvok, I got that much from you earlier," Kathryn said, trying to peek around Tuvok at the mystery person hiding behind him. "Well, let's have it. Who is this person I so urgently need to speak with?"

Kathryn hadn't known who to expect, but the person who stepped out from behind Tuvok had not been anyone she'd expected to see.

"Dani!" Kathryn exclaimed. Dani looked up at her mother, whose expression reflected a mixture of anger and surprise. Dani wasn't sure if she should say anything. What could she say? She didn't think there was anything she could say that would prevent the verbal lashing she was about to receive.

Kathryn looked away from her daughter. She looked over at Tuvok.

"Thank you, Lt.," Kathryn said. The security officer took this as a dismissal and obediently left the room.

Kathryn looked back down at her daughter. She was seething with anger. She opened her mouth to say something, but brought her hand to her comm badge instead.

"Janeway to Chakotay," she said.

'Oh no,' Dani thought. She'd known that her father would find out when she'd decided to make her presence known, but somehow the thought hadn't seemed so...menacing when she was climbing out of a jeffries tube.

"Chakotay here."

"Report to my ready room right away," Kathryn ordered.

"On my way," Chakotay replied. "Oh, and by the way, we do have auxiliary power, so you can have a cup of coffee. I know you're probably needing one by now."

'You have no idea,' Kathryn thought, looking at her daughter.

"Thank you, Commander," Kathryn said.

"Chakotay out."

Without another word, Kathryn walked over to the replicator. "Computer-coffee! Hot!" she barked. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot while the smoldering cup of coffee materialized. She picked up the beverage and walked over to her desk. Dani began to speak, but Kathryn cut her off by raising her hand. She sat down in her chair and slowly took a sip of the still steaming coffee. Dani imagined that was the state her mother's temper was in right now - steaming.

"Sit," Kathryn said sternly. Dani knew enough to follow her mother's orders. She promptly sat down in one of the chairs in front of Kathryn's desk. The door chimed. A sudden feeling of absolute doom came over Dani.

"Come," Kathryn said, her blue eyes still trained on Dani. When Chakotay walked through the door, Dani wished there was some way she could disappear into the chair she was occupying. Kathryn looked at Chakotay and stood. He put on brakes as soon as he saw Dani sitting in front of Kathryn's desk.

"Dani?" His response to her presence aboard the ship appeared to be less angry than Kathryn's, but he had been just as surprised. He took a few steps toward his daughter, somewhat bewildered.

Dani hesitantly looked up at her father. "Hi?" she said. It came out as more of a question than a greeting.

Chakotay looked at Kathryn and then back at Dani. For some reason, Dani felt the need to say something.

"Okay. Okay. Before either of you say anything, just let me explain."

"Explain?" Kathryn said. "Yes, I'd say you have a lot of explaining to do. Explain to me how you ended up on this ship. Explain to me why you're not back home, with your aunt. Explain it to me, Dani. Enlighten me."

Dani stood, quite timidly.

"Sit down!" Kathryn ordered. No sooner had the words left Kathryn's mouth than Dani was back in her seat.

"Dani, what are you doing here?" Chakotay asked more calmly than Kathryn had. Dani fidgeted a little and attempted to start her explanation a few times before she actually settled on one beginning.

"Um, it's kind of interesting, actually," Dani began.

Kathryn walked around her desk and behind Dani's chair. She looked at Chakotay. She could see that he wanted Dani to continue.

"Go on," she said to Dani. She continued to pace.

"Well..." Dani started again. She could try to sugarcoat it, but what good would that do? She decided she should just be frank. That was usually best when she was dealing with her parents. She sighed.

"I was bored. I just wanted to have a little fun, so I sneaked onboard right before we left DS9. I mean, it was just going to be negotiations, so I figured that if I stayed out of sight, it wouldn't be that big of a problem."

"Gods, Dani..." Chakotay said. He leaned against the desk. "What were you thinking?"

"I just wanted some excitement, Dad," Dani said. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?!" Kathryn stopped pacing. Dani turned sideways in her seat so that she could face both Chakotay and Kathryn. She had stopped herself from exploding earlier, but she couldn't contain herself any longer. "Dani do you have any idea where we are?"

"The Badlands?" Dani asked.

"Wrong," Chakotay said. "We're in the Delta quadrant."

"What?!" Dani exclaimed. She almost stood again, but one glance at her mother made her reconsider. "How?"

"We don't know," Kathryn said. "We're not dealing with that right now; we're dealing with you." She walked over to her daughter. "Now, I don't know what possessed you to think you could hide on this ship for an entire voyage, but you were seriously out of your mind. Where were you going to hide?"

"Well, I was in a jeffries tube-"

"A jeffries tube?!" Kathryn and Chakotay exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah," Dani said looking from Chakotay to Kathryn and back to Chakotay again. "I mean, I came out after all that shaking."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" Kathryn asked. "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"I didn't think it was going to cause this much trouble. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Yes, I know you are, and you're going to continue to be sorry for a long time after this," Kathryn said. "Do you know how far the Delta quadrant is from home?"

"No," Dani said simply.

"Well, it's a pretty good distance," Kathryn said.

"It's about 70,000 light years," Chakotay said, his anger starting to surface. "Do you know how long it's going to take us to get back to the Alpha quadrant?"

Dani didn't bother to answer this time. She just shook her head, slowly.

"A long time," Kathryn said. "And let me tell you, you're going to be spending a large part of it unhappy because of this little stunt, young lady."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Now 17, Dani stood staring unbelievingly at Kathryn. She had pulled stunts like this before, and it'd never produced this outcome.

"Grounded?" Dani asked.

"Yes," Kathryn said. For some reason, Dani couldn't accept that this was her punishment. She could accept kitchen duty or something to that effect, but not this.

"But-" Dani started to argue, but Kathryn cut her off sharply. "GO!"

Dani didn't have any choice but to do as Kathryn said. She walked across the living room and entered her room. The doors closed quietly behind her.

In the living room, Kathryn decided that it was the perfect time for coffee. She crossed over to the small dining room and ordered a cup from the replicator. As the coffee was materializing, Chakotay entered the room from the corridor. She was surprised to see him, for he had said he would be in engineering for most of the day. However, she was glad he was there.

"Chakotay," Kathryn said, picking up the cup of coffee, "I thought you were going to be in engineering all day?"

"That was my plan, but B'Elanna said she had all the help she needed. Besides, it was a little crowded in there. So, I decided to get started on next week's duty rosters." He held up PADD and walked over to his desk. As he sat down, Kathryn walked over to the desk. "Where's Dani?" His hand skipped over the buttons on his desk.

Kathryn took a sip of her coffee. "I sent her to her room." Chakotay looked up at Kathryn.

"Why?" he asked.

"Chakotay, do you know what she was doing today?" Kathryn asked. When he shook his head, she went on. "She went space diving on the holodeck."

"Space diving?" Chakotay said. He stood and walked around his desk, shaking his head. "What was she trying to do? Kill herself?"

"No. She claimed she was just bored." Chakotay sighed. "Chakotay, the girl's gone...Delta wild." Chakotay merely smiled at his wife's new expression. "I grounded her. I'm also going to revoke her holodeck privileges for a month and give her kitchen duty."

"Well, don't call Neelix just yet," Chakotay said. "Let me talk to her."

"Gladly," Kathryn said, sipping on her coffee. Chakotay walked past Kathryn to Dani's door.

Inside her room, Dani heard her door chime.

"Go away!" she said.

Outside, Chakotay looked back at Kathryn. She raised her eyebrows and took another sip of coffee. He turned back to the door and chimed again.

"I said GO AWAY!" Dani reiterated. It was to no avail, however, because she heard her doors slide open. Someone walked in. The doors slid closed. The visitor took a few steps towards Dani's bed. Dani had her back to the door and the visitor, but she knew who it was. It wasn't her mother, because her step was lighter, and this person had a heavy step. She looked to her right in time to see her father sit down on the bed beside her.

'Oh, great,' she thought. 'Another lecture.'

Chakotay surprised her by saying, "I'm not here to lecture you." Dani looked down at the floor. Chakotay went on. "I just want to find out what's going on with you."

"Nothing, Dad," Dani said looking at Chakotay. "I'm fine."

Chakotay studied his daughter's face. Her skin was a pale brown, an exact medium between his brownness and her mother's paleness. She had inherited many of her mother's traits. Even though her eyes were dark like his, they were definitely her mother's eyes. They had the same piercing quality. She had her mother's facial structure and was the same height as she. She had inherited many of his traits, also. She had his dark hair and his mouth. She even had his smile. It was almost identical to his, except she only had one dimple, and he had two. However, she was not smiling today.

"You may be able to tell that to some people, but I don't believe it," Chakotay said. "I've known you for seventeen years. I know when you're fine and when something's bothering you." Dani looked away from Chakotay. This wasn't going to be easy. "Come on, Dani," Chakotay pleaded. "What's wrong? Talk to me. We used to talk. We don't ever talk anymore. What's the matter?" Dani still wouldn't answer him. Instead she turned her body and leaned against the headboard. At least she was looking at him now.

Dani studied Chakotay. She was a little surprised that he'd taken time from his busy schedule to actually attempt to find out what was bugging her.

"Your mother told me you went space diving on the holodeck today," Chakotay said. "Wanna tell me why?"

"She didn't tell you?" Dani asked, bitterly.

"Well, she told me that you blamed it on boredom," Chakotay said. "Is that accurate?"

"Pretty much," Dani admitted. "I mean, she just doesn't understand what it's like for me."

"But I do," Chakotay said. "At least I'm trying to." Pulling his leg up on the bed, he turned his body and faced Dani, hoping she would take as a sign of his genuine interest in her feelings. She did and continued to talk.

"I'm stuck here with no one to really talk to, you know? I feel like I'm so alone, I don't know what to do."

"Well, have you tried talking with some of Seven's students. I believe Icheb's about your age, isn't he?"

"Oh, Dad...they used to be drones! What kind of conversation could I have with them?"

"They might surprise you."

Dani shook her head. "No. I don't think so."

"You know, you can always talk to me or your mother anytime you need or want to," Chakotay offered.

Dani just shook her head again. "No," she protested. "You and Mom are always busy doing stuff with the ship."

"Dani, your mother and I run a starship. That's our job."

"I know, but I miss how we used to do things together." Dani looked away from him, remembering earlier times. "We used to do stuff as a family. Me and you and her. I wish things could go back to the way the used to be."

"Me, too, Dani," Chakotay said. "We all do. Don't you see? That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to get home. But we can't do it if we have to worry about you. We need your help in this. We're both working toward the same goal, but you've got to do your part, too. You've got to stop upsetting your mother like this. Give her a break. She could definitely use it."

Dani looked at Chakotay. Her expression was much more pleasant than it had been when he'd first entered the room.

"Dani," Chakotay said, "you know that your mother and I love you very much. We just don't want anything to happen to you."

"I know, Dad, and...I'm sorry," Dani apologized. "It's just hard, you know?"

Chakotay nodded. "I know." Without warning, an idea entered his head. "Say, what do you say we have dinner tonight? Just the three of us."

Hope filled Dani. "A family dinner? Like old times?"

Chakotay nodded. "Yeah." He saw the hope in his daughter's eyes replaced by joy.

The joy faded a little as she asked, "Neelix isn't going to cook is he?"

Chakotay laughed and shook his head. "No. We'll replicate something." Dani smiled again.

"I'd like that."

"Good." Chakotay leaned over and kissed Dani on the forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Chakotay stood and walked to the door.

"Dad?" Chakotay turned to face Dani. "Am I still grounded?" Chakotay smiled a little.

"Yes," he said with nod. "But be thankful that's all. If it'd been left up to your mother, you be pulling kitchen duty and you wouldn't have any holodeck privileges for the next month." Dani grimaced at the thought of that. Chakotay smiled and left the room.

"So, how'd it go?" Kathryn asked. She was sitting on the couch, drinking her coffee and reading a PADD.

Chakotay sat down at the desk and picked up a PADD. "Fine," he said. "I think we've worked everything out." Kathryn looked at Chakotay. He was already working.

"Really?" Kathryn asked. "Well, that's a relief." She went back to reading her PADD.

"Oh, by the way, we're having dinner tonight," Chakotay said. He glanced up at Kathryn. She was already looking at him. "As a family," he added.

"Oh, really?" Kathryn asked, placing the PADD on the coffee table. Chakotay glanced up at her long enough to nod.

"Yeah. I thought it would be a good idea if we spent some quality time together," Chakotay said. "So did she."

Kathryn got up and walked over to the desk, coffee still in hand.

"She did?" Kathryn asked.

Chakotay looked up at Kathryn.

"Yes," he said. He watched as Kathryn took a sip of the coffee. "Is anything wrong, Kathryn?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

"No," she said. He didn't believe her. A smile formed on his face.

"Don't tell me you're afraid to have dinner with your own daughter," Chakotay said. "You negotiate treaties with alien races."

Kathryn looked down at Chakotay. 'He's right,' she thought. 'This won't be so bad.' She turned away from him and started to walk back to the couch. She picked the PADD up off the coffee table and started to study it again.

"So what's Neelix cooking?" Kathryn asked, about to sit down. She started to, but she stopped when she heard Chakotay's reply.

"Nothing," he said. "You are."

Kathryn looked at Chakotay's smiling face and smiled herself. "You have got to be kidding." The dimples that accompanied Chakotay's smile deepened. Kathryn's smile faded completely. "You're not," she said flatly. Chakotay shook his head 'no'.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Computer, run program 'Velocity'." The holodeck doors opened, and 14-year-old Dani Janeway walked into the simulated game room. Her fingers danced over the computer console near the holodeck entrance. A blue disk appeared in the air near the middle of the room. It levitated patiently while Dani entered the commands for a playing partner. The partner, a holographic man who appeared to be in his early thirties, and two game phasers appeared. The partner and Dani each picked up a gun. "After you," the man said. Dani nodded. She pointed her phaser at the floating disk and fired. The disk ricocheted off the back wall. The man shot at the disk. The game had begun.

30 minutes later, Dani found herself in sickbay with a sprained ankle. Everything had been going fine until about the fourth game. She had been going for a particularly difficult shot when she'd slipped and fallen on her ankle. The injury was so bad, they'd had to beam her to sickbay.

The Doctor waved a medical tricorder over the now-healed ankle. "Hmm...you'll have to stay off of it as much as possible for the rest of the day, but it should continue to heal quite nicely."

Dani slowly rotated her foot. Her ankle still hurt a little but not nearly as much as it had when she'd first injured it. Maybe her mother wouldn't have to know after all. She looked from her ankle to the doctor.

"Doctor, you practice doctor-patient confidentiality, don't you?"

"Why, of course," the Doctor answered. "I am, after all, a professional. Whatever takes place inside this room is confidential." He saw Dani close her eyes and breathe a sigh of relief. "However, your mother already knows about your injury."

Dani opened her eyes and looked at the Doctor.

"Mr. Kim informed her of the internal transport," the holographic image explained. "Bioscans alerted her that it was you and that you were injured."

The sickbay doors slid open and Kathryn dashed in.

"Dani!" she said, walking over to the biobed. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Just then, Chakotay came through the sickbay doors.

"What happened?" he asked stepping into place on the side of the biobed opposite Kathryn. He looked at Dani. "They told me you were transported here."

"She was," the doctor answered. "She was unable to walk."

Kathryn looked at the Doctor, then Chakotay, and finally at Dani again. She stroked Dani's hair, which was still damp from the sweat she'd worked up on the holodeck.

"Are you alright?" Kathryn asked Dani.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said, answering for the young teen. "Just a bad sprain. She'll be up and around in no time."

"What did you sprain?" Chakotay asked.

"Her ankle," the Doctor said.

"How?" Chakotay asked. This time the doctor did not answer. However, neither did Dani. She just looked down at the bed.

Chakotay looked to the Doctor. "Doctor, could you tell us how Dani sprained her ankle?"

"Why certainly," he said. "She was on the holodeck playing Velocity."

Dani looked at the Doctor in disbelief. She couldn't believe he'd told.

"Hey! What happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?" Dani asked.

"It's still being enforced. What's said in this room won't go beyond these walls," the Doctor said.

"I should've realized it sooner," Dani said. "Of course it won't go beyond these walls when you're confined to them!"

"Well, now that they know, maybe we can avoid another incident like today's. Besides, what would you have me do? Lie to the two senior officers on the ship?"

"Yes," Dani said. She looked at her parents. They did not seem at all happy. That little comment she'd made had probably just made the hot water she was in about ten degrees hotter.

"Thank you, Doctor," Kathryn said, dismissing him. He obediently left the three of them alone. "Velocity, Dani?"

"Yes," Dani replied quietly.

"I've told you you're not ready for that game," Kathryn said. "You'rreflexes aren't quick enough, yet."

"Mom, I was doing fine until I fell," Dani argued.

"Okay, so why did you fall?" Chakotay asked her. Dani didn't really have an answer for that one. The only plausible explanation was that her mother was correct - her reflexes weren't good enough. But there was no way she could admit that. If there was one trait she shared with her mother, it was stubbornness. So she just shrugged her shoulders.

Chakotay and Kathryn glanced at each other.

"Can you walk?" Kathryn asked Dani.

"I think so," Dani said.

"Good, because you're going to need to," Kathryn said. Dani immediately took this as a sign that punishment was imminent. She hopped off the biobed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Presently, Dani walked into the living room and looked around the area. She was happy her father had suggested having dinner as a family, but she was a little worried about how everything would go with her mother. It had been forever and a day since the last time they'd all had dinner together. The first significant thing she noticed was that both of her parents were out of uniform. It was a little unsettling because she hardly ever saw them out of uniform. They truly looked like different people. Her mother was at the replicator. Her father was standing at the large windows behind the table. He turned to face her when she walked in.

"Dani," he said. She took a few steps toward the table. He noticed that she was looking at his clothes. He held his arms out to his sides. "I told you the uniform hadn't fused with my skin."

"So you did," Dani said, walking to the table.

The pot roast materialized in front of Kathryn. "Damn, not again," she muttered to herself, before the roast had even finished materializing. She didn't need a tricorder to tell her the roast was overdone. No. Not overdone. Charred was more like it. As she picked up the hot dish with pot holders, she wondered why she could run a starship but couldn't replicate a decent pot roast.

Kathryn walked over to the table. Chakotay and Dani were already seated. "I'm afraid the pot roast didn't turn out quite like I expected," she said, placing the dish on the table.

"I'm sure it tastes fine," Chakotay said. He looked at Dani expectantly. She caught on. She looked at Kathryn and smiled, nodding enthusiastically. "Besides, I like mine a little dark, anyway."

Chakotay chewed on the first bite of the roast, which wasn't really what one would call an easy task. He'd said he liked his dark, but maybe this was a little too dark. The only color he could pick out in the meat was black. Something gave him the feeling that this wasn't its correct color. He looked across the table at Dani. She looked like she was thinking the same thing he was, but she was forcing the singed meal down somehow. And she tried to look like she was enjoying it, too. He was amazed by how she was pulling it off.

"You know what," Kathryn said, putting her fork and knife down, "I've determined that this...is practically inedible. I wouldn't force my worst enemy to eat this. Dani, you can stop pretending, now. By the way, you're a very good actress. For a second, I almost believed that you were enjoying that."

Dani was glad to retire her eating utensils. She forcefully swallowed the bite that was already in her mouth and took a long drink of water. But it was too late-that awful burnt taste surfaced on her tongue.

"I apologize," Kathryn said. "Grab some bread; we'll do peanut butter and jelly tonight."

"Not so fast," Chakotay said. "I asked Neelix to bring something down from the mess hall." Kathryn looked at Chakotay. "I asked him to keep it warm for me. I had intended to have them after dinner, for desert, but I suppose we could make an exception," he said glancing down at the very well-done meat. Just then, the door chimed. "That must be him, now," Chakotay said, getting up from the table and walking across the living room to the doors. The doors slid open and, sure enough, Neelix was standing there with a covered tray.

"Neelix," Chakotay said cheerfully.

"Here you are, Commander," Neelix said, handing the tray to Chakotay. "They were kept warm, just as you requested."

Kathryn and Dani looked at each other. They watched the interaction curiously.

"Thank you, Neelix," Chakotay said with smile. The Talaxian returned Chakotay's smile and nodded.

"Anytime, Commander." He walked away and the doors closed.

Chakotay turned to a curious Dani and Kathryn. He carried the tray to the table and placed it beside the pot roast.

"What's this?" Kathryn asked.

Dani recognized the smell. She smelled some more.

"Wait a minute," she said. She looked at the tray. Then she looked at her father, her eyes filled with revelation. "I know what these are."

Chakotay removed the tray's cover to reveal rows of perfectly square, perfectly brown, perfectly fluffy caramel brownies. Both Dani's and Kathryn's eyes filled with glee at the sight of the choco-caramel treats.

Xxx

Dani walked into her quarters. She had just finished a lesson in astrometrics with Seven. Dani found astrometrics absolutely boring, but her mother was making her study it. She was much more interested in medicine. If only Seven had been assigned to sickbay...She tossed the

PADDs Seven had assigned to her on the bed and walked over to her desk. She sat down in her chair and propped her legs up on her desk.

"Computer run program 'Sheryl Crow', please. Volume level 10." The music began. Dani put her hands over her eyes and let the music flow into her.

_Hey, let's party, let's get down. Let's turn the radio up. This is the meltdown..._

Today had not been a particularly good day with Seven. They had disagreed on many fronts, and Seven had decided that it would be best to end the lesson early. She'd assigned Dani an impossible amount of reading to do and...

She didn't want to think about it right now. She just wanted to sit back and relax.

Kathryn entered her quarters. She sat down at her desk and turned the computer on her desktop towards her. It wasn't too long before she became aware of the sound of muffled music coming from Dani's room. There was no way she'd be able to concentrate on her work if she could hear it. She stood and walked over to the door. She chimed once. There was no reply. She chimed a second time. There still was no reply. Kathryn entered the lock code into the small console beside the door. As the doors slid open, a wave of music hit Kathryn.

_Sunshine Sally and Peter Ustinov...don't like this scene anyhow..._

"Dani," Kathryn said. The music drowned out her voice, and Dani didn't hear her. Kathryn cleared her throat and decided to try again, this time louder. "Dani!"

Bringing her feet to the floor, Dani turned in her seat and looked at her mother. When had she entered the room?

"Computer, lower volume to level 2," Dani commanded. The music volume abruptly fell to a level that would permit conversation. "Sorry about that."

"Does it have to be so loud?" Kathryn asked.

"It helps me think," Dani replied.

"Who is it?" Kathryn asked, referring to the singer whose voice was drifting lightly into the room.

"Sheryl Crow," Dani informed her mother. "She was a late-twentieth century singer."

"Oh..." Kathryn said. She glanced at the PADDs on Dani's bed. "So, how are things going with Seven?"

"Horrible! We don't agree on anything and she gives way too much work."

"Well, are you learning anything?"

"Not anything that I want to."

"Well, I'll talk to her and see if I can't get her to diversify her lesson plans a little."

Dani looked at her mother. She was glad to see that she was making an effort. "Thanks."

"How's your science project coming?" Kathryn asked.

"Oh, I'm not doing one," Dani said, matter-of-factly. Kathryn was caught completely off-guard by this.

"You're not doing one?" Kathryn asked.

Dani shook her head. "No. I don't want to."

Kathryn couldn't believe her ears. Her daughter not want to do a science project? That wasn't even conceivable. How could she not want to do one. It was science. "Why not?" She knew that Dani wasn't as fond of science as she was, but she'd thought that Dani would at least do a science project.

Dani shrugged. "I just don't want to." She couldn't tell Kathryn that she absolutely detested any kind of science that wasn't associated with medicine. She knew what a scientist her mother was. It might break her heart.

"The other students are doing projects," Kathryn said.

"I know," Dani said, "but I just don't want to." Her eyes fell to the floor.

Kathryn wanted to try to convince Dani to reconsider, but she thought better of it. "...Okay. If that's what you really want to do."

"It is," Dani said.

"Okay," Kathryn said. She wanted to say more, but she settled on 'okay' again. She walked toward the door and then stopped abruptly. She turned back to Dani. "Why don't you want to do a project? Just tell me. I promise I won't get upset, whatever the reason."

"Mom-" Dani started to protest.

"-Please," Kathryn pleaded.

Dani stood. "Mom," she began, "I..." She took a deep breath. "...I hate science. I find it absolutely boring. The only kind of science I like is medical science." She looked at Kathryn. There was a look of bewilderment on her face. She took a few steps toward Kathryn. "Mom, I wanna be a doctor." Dani studied Kathryn's face. Kathryn was wearing her best poker face, and Dani had no idea what her mother was thinking.

"Oh," Kathryn said simply. "Is that all?" She forced a little smile. "Well, you certainly could've told me this earlier. I would've put you in the sickbay with the Doctor, instead of astrometrics."

'She hates me,' Dani thought. 'I'd better say something.' "I-"

But Kathryn cut her off. "No. There's no need to explain. I understand."

Dani took a step towards Kathryn. "Mom-"

"I'll leave you to your music now. Computer-raise volume to previous level." The volume of the music rose to level 10, and Kathryn left the room. Dani sat back down in her chair. Now she felt even worse than she had when she'd first walked in from her lesson.

Kathryn walked over to the sofa and sat down. She looked out at the stars. Dani hated science? How could that be? What was worse was that she had forced her into going to all those lessons in astrometrics. What had she done? Dani must surely hate her.

'What kind of a mother am I?' Kathryn thought.

The doors leading to the corridor slid open and Chakotay walked in. It was near the end of his shift, and he still had those departmental reports to read. His intentions had been to come in and get them over with right away, but when he spied Kathryn sitting on the sofa, his plans changed. He noticed that her demeanor was extremely melancholy. Not at all normal for her.

"Kathryn?" he said. Kathryn looked up at him. "Hi," she said. Chakotay walked over to Kathryn. He kissed her as he sat down beside her on the sofa.

"What's up?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she said. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Kathryn shook her head. She looked back out the window. Chakotay could tell that something was eating away at Kathryn.

"What's the matter?" Chakotay asked her.

"Nothing," Kathryn lied.

"It's about Dani," Chakotay guessed. Kathryn looked at him. The look on her face told him that he'd guessed correctly. "What is it this time?"

Kathryn looked down at her hands. "She hates me," she said.

"What?" Chakotay asked. He hadn't been sure he'd heard correctly.

"She hates me," Kathryn repeated. "She hates science and she hates me." Chakotay saw Kathryn's face crack with emotion. Tears flooded her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

"Kathryn?" Chakotay pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. "Where did all this come from?"

"She told me," Kathryn said.

"She told you she hated you?" Chakotay asked.

"No." Kathryn sat back and looked down at her hands again. "We were talking about science projects and she told me she wasn't doing one. Eventually, she told me that she...hated science. She told me she wants to be a doctor."

"A doctor?" Chakotay asked. "That's wonderful."

"I know. But I made her go to all those lessons with Seven. She must've been miserable. I must be a horrible mother to put my daughter through something like that!"

"Oh, no, Kathryn..." Chakotay pulled Kathryn to him once again. "You're a wonderful mother."

"How could I do that to her?"

"You didn't know, Kathryn. She just told you today."

"I'm a bad mother," Kathryn sobbed.

Xxx

Later on, Chakotay walked into Dani's room to find that she had the same demeanor as her mother. It was anybody's guess what was getting her down. Chakotay had come in to tell her what Kathryn had told him earlier. It seemed that his plans would have to change for the second time that day.

"Dani?" Dani looked up at Chakotay. She was sitting on her bed. It seemed that she had been so into her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that someone had walked into the room.

"Dad," she said. "Hey."

"You wanna talk?" Chakotay asked.

"About what?" Dani asked.

"You tell me," Chakotay said. "You look a little down." He walked around to the side of the bed and sat down in front of Dani. "I was talking to your mother earlier today-"

"She told you," Dani jumped in. "What I said."

"Yes."

Dani looked down at the blanket that covered her bed. "She hates me, doesn't she?"

"What?" Chakotay asked. He couldn't believe he was hearing this-again.

"She hates me because...I'm not a scientist." Dani broke into small sobs.

"Oh, Dani..." Chakotay pulled Dani to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's true, isn't it? She hates me."

"Your mother does not hate you, Dani," Chakotay said.

"Yes, she does," Dani insisted. "I told her I didn't like science-except medicine, of course. She didn't say so, but I could tell she was disappointed. She hates me." Chakotay chuckled unexpectedly. Dani looked at him. "Why are you laughing? I don't think this is very funny."

"Do you know what your mother and I were talking about earlier?" Chakotay asked. Dani shook her head. "She told me that you hated her."

"What?"

"She thinks she's a bad mother," Chakotay informed Dani.

"No," Dani disagreed. "Mom...Mom's great."

"She doesn't seem to think so."

"Why would she think that?"

"Why don't you ask her?"

Kathryn was looking out the window when Chakotay and Dani walked into the room. She stood as they approached to sofa.

"Now, the last time you two encountered a problem, I did all the talking," Chakotay started out. "Now, I think it's time for you both to do your parts. It's time for you to talk." Chakotay sat down. Kathryn and Dani looked at each other before taking their places on the sofa. "Now - talk."

Since Dani already knew how her mother felt, she thought it was only logical for her to be the one who begin. 'Logical?' Dani thought to herself. 'I'm spending way too much time with Tuvok.'

"Mom," Dani began, "First thing's first - I do not hate you."

"You don't have to lie to protect my feelings, Dani," Kathryn said.

"I'm not lying, Mom," Dani insisted. "I don't hate you."

"Yes, you do. I made you go to all those lessons with Seven. I made your life miserable."

"No, they weren't that bad." This time, Dani was lying. Those lessons had been hell. "It's just that I wasn't all that interested in the subject matter." She looked down at her hands. "Actually, that's why I thought you hated me."

"Hated you?" Kathryn asked.

Dani looked up at the ceiling.

"I thought that you hated me because I wasn't a scientist," Dani revealed. Kathryn watched as tears appeared in Dani's eyes.

"Dani..."

"I mean, I feel like nothing I do is ever good enough for you," Dani went on. "I mean, when we were on Earth, I did the ballet thing, and I played tennis, but I never...I never felt like I made you proud."

"Dani, I am proud of you. I always have been."

"Well, I never felt like you were. I never felt like I could measure up to your standards, like I could make you proud like your officers do."

Kathryn put her arms around Dani.

"Dani, you can't compare yourself to a Starfleet officer because that's not what you are. What you are is my daughter. Don't you know that you make me and your father proud of you every single day?"

"I do?" Dani asked.

"Yes," Kathryn said. "Yes, yes, yes."

"Why?"

"Why?" Kathryn repeated. "You have been through so much in the past five years. We all have. But you've tried to do everything like you normally would. That takes a lot of courage. I admire that, and I'm proud of you for it. Dani, I love you so much." She and Dani embraced each other again.

"I love you, too," Dani said.

Chakotay looked on, a smile of satisfaction on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Harry Kim walked into the mess hall, his eyes actively scanning the vast room. When he spotted Tom Paris, he walked over to his table and joined him.

"Hello, Harry," Tom said. He immediately noticed that his friend was looking a bit nervous. He was looking around the room, and he couldn't keep his hands still. "A little anxious, aren't we?" Finally, Harry's dark eyes settled on Tom.

"I'm in trouble," Harry revealed.

"Trouble? You?" Tom asked. "Those two words don't even belong in the same sentence."

"Maybe, but that's the situation," Harry insisted.

"So, what kind of trouble are you in?" Tom inquired.

Just as Harry was about to answer, Dani walked into the mess hall. Tom turned around in his seat and followed Harry's line of sight. He turned and looked at Harry once again. Harry had the expression of a lovesick puppy on his face.

"Oh, no, Harry," Tom said. Tom turned back to Dani. He and Harry watched her walk over to Neelix at the counter. "Come on, Harry, snap out of it."

"I don't know what happened," Harry mumbled. "I can't seem to get her out of my mind."

"Harry, she's the Captain's daughter," Tom reminded the young ensign.

"I know. I keep telling myself that, but it doesn't seem to matter." Harry watched Dani as she took a seat across the room with her lunch. "There's just something about her that I can't quite put my finger on."

"The fact that she's off limits, maybe," Tom suggested. "You know what they always say about the lure of forbidden fruit."

"No, that isn't it," Harry disagreed. "She's just so..."

"...the Captain's daughter."

Harry looked at Tom. "I came here for advice. If you're not going to give it to me-" Harry started to rise from the table, but Tom stopped him by placing his hand on Harry's arm.

"No. I'm sorry. Stay," Tom insisted. Harry glanced at Dani before sitting down again.

"So, what should I do?" Harry asked.

"Ask her out."

"I can't do that. Are you crazy? She's the Captain's daughter. You don't just go out and ask the Captain's daughter out on a date."

"Why not? She's a person just like anybody else. And she'll be 18 in a few days. She can make her own decisions." As Tom was finishing up his sentence, Harry saw Chakotay walk in.

"That's why," Harry said, nodding in the direction of the big Indian man. Tom turned in his seat just in time to see him sit down at Dani's table.

"Oh, I see," Tom said. "It's the father."

"Not just the father. The Commander."

Xxx

"How are things in going with the Doctor?" Chakotay asked, reaching over and picking a small, round vegetable of some kind from Dani's plate.

"Wonderful," Dani answered. "I'm loving every minute of it."

"Every minute? With the Doctor? I'm finding that difficult to believe."

"Okay, maybe not every minute. But I definitely like it better than astrometrics." Dani watched as Chakotay placed the mystery fruit in his mouth. The sour expression that immediately formed on his face told her she'd be better off not trying it for herself. "What is it?"

Chakotay chewed and swallowed with much difficulty. "Another one of Neelix's leola root concoctions. I wouldn't suggest it."

Xxx

"He assigns the duty rosters," Harry stated. "He could make my life a living nightmare if he wanted."

"So what are you going to do?" Tom asked.

"I don't know," Harry admitted.

"I have an idea. You might not like it, but it's not really as bad as it sounds."

"What is it?"

Xxx

"Captain," Harry began, "I was wandering about Dani." It was a few nights later, in Tom's 'Sandrine's' program. Dani was celebrating her eighteenth birthday there. Harry and Kathryn were shooting pool. Harry was losing terribly.

"Yes, Harry?" Kathryn urged, sinking, yet, another solid ball.

"I was wondering," Harry continued quite nervously, "what does she do for fun?"

"For fun?" Kathryn asked. She shot and sunk another ball. "Well, there's a lot, really. She sky-dives, plays Velocity, and, yes - she is free tomorrow night."

Harry was astonished.

Kathryn went on. "How did I know?" Harry nodded. "You're not the first to ask my permission to date my daughter."

"I guess you turned them down," Harry speculated.

"No," Kathryn said, surprising Harry. "She did."

'Great,' Harry thought. 'My chances just dropped by about 99 percent.'

"Don't look so down, Harry," Kathryn said, interrupting Harry's thoughts. "She just hasn't found the right person, yet. Who knows?" Kathryn leaned down and prepared to sink another ball. "It might be you."

"Captain, are you suggesting that I ask her out for a date?" Harry asked.

"How else are you supposed to find out if she wants to go out with you?" Kathryn took the shot, and her ball rolled into the pocket directly opposite her.

Xxx

The next day, Harry was in the mess hall again when Dani walked in. Harry immediately felt his heart rate quicken. She passed by the lunch counter and walked toward Harry's table.

'She's coming over here!' Harry thought frantically. A subtle sweat broke out over his forehead and inside the palms of his hands. He looked down at his lunch. He had been starving earlier, but curiously, he had lost his appetite. When he looked up, he was staring into the beautiful face of Dani Janeway.

"Hello," Dani said.

"Hi-hello," Harry stumbled.

"What's up?" Dani asked casually.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," Harry said speedily. Dani eyed him suspiciously but playfully. She reached over and picked a piece of lettuce up off Harry's plate. She studied it as she turned it over in her fingers.

"You know, one thing I really miss about Earth is french fries," she said. She studied the lettuce some more. "Oh, well," she sighed, biting into the leafy, green vegetable. After she finished chewing, she spoke again. "You know, you and I should do something sometime."

"Do something?" Harry asked. "Together?"

"Yeah."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. He had to make sure he wasn't misunderstanding her. "Like a date?"

Dani nodded. "Yeah. I guess you could call it that. What do you say?"

'It's true! She's actually asking me out!' Harry thought. 'Whoa. Stay cool, Harry.'

"Sure," Harry replied.

"Great. When does your shift end?" Dani inquired.

"1700 hours," Harry said.

"Meet me on Holodeck 2 at 2000 hours." Dani stood.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked.

"You'll see." Dani started to walk away.

Harry stood. "What should I wear?"

Dani stopped and turned back to Harry. "Nothing special," she said. "Anything you want." She turned to go again, but stopped and turned back to Harry one last time. "Except that uniform," she added before turning and walking out of the mess hall for good.

Xxx

That night, as Dani tried to decide on a program to run, she remembered one she'd run almost two years ago. It was the only time she'd ever really made her father mad besides the initial prank of sneaking onboard Voyager. Well, it wasn't really the program that had made him mad...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

...Dani Janeway had just turned sixteen a few days ago. After a trial game, her mother had finally granted her the privilege of playing Velocity. But she wasn't playing Velocity tonight. Tonight, she was going to a party.

Dani looked herself over in the mirror. The red fitted turtleneck sweater and short black skirt she was wearing was perfect for tonight. Her eyes moved to her hair. She couldn't decide whether she should wear it up or down. She held it up with her hand and studied the prospective style. Then she let it fall about her shoulders once more and brushed it. Ultimately, she decided to wear it up. She twisted it and placed a clip on it to keep it in place. She looked herself over once more and decided that she was ready.

Dani walked into the living area. Her parents were together on the sofa reading a book. They looked up at her.

"Where are you off to tonight?" Kathryn asked.

"The holodeck," Dani replied.

"One of your party programs?" Chakotay guessed.

"Yes."

"Have fun," Kathryn said, turning her attention back to the book.

"Thanks," Dani said. A smile formed on her face as she turned to go. They hadn't given her a curfew. That meant-

"Be back by 2400 hours," Kathryn said, interrupting Dani's thoughts. Dani whirled back around to face her parents, her smile having faded.

"2400?" she whined. She looked at the small chronometer strapped to her wrist. "But it's 2100 now."

Kathryn turned a page in the book. "Then you'd better be going then," she said. As an afterthought, she looked up behind her at Chakotay. "You were finished with that page, weren't you?"

"Um-hm," Chakotay nodded.

Kathryn looked back down at the book. "2400," she repeated.

Dani turned and walked out of the quarters. Kathryn watched the doors close behind her, then she closed the book.

"I wasn't finished with that page," Chakotay said.

"You don't think 2400 is too early, do you?" Kathryn asked Chakotay, completely ignoring his complaint.

"No," Chakotay said. "Not at all. When I was sixteen, that was my curfew."

"But that was a different time," Kathryn countered. "And different circumstances..." She leaned forward and placed the book on the coffee table. "The main reason for curfews was so that you could know where your child was. We know where ours is. What can happen to her here?"

"I think the more appropriate question would be 'what can't?'"

Kathryn thought about Chakotay's statement for a moment. "You're right," she agreed. "Some strange things have happened on the decks of this ship."

"And who's to say that what happens can't happen inside the walls of these quarters?" Chakotay challenged. "The fact that she's in here doesn't automatically make her safe." Kathryn looked at him, and he went on. "Safety isn't the only reason for curfews, though. Curfews establish discipline, order. In some cases, they can be used as punishment."

"When do parents usually stop giving their children curfews?" Kathryn asked.

"Well, my parents stopped giving me a curfew when I turned 18," Chakotay replied. "What about you?"

"Oh, I never had a curfew," Kathryn said casually.

"You'd better not let Dani hear you say that. She'd call you a hypocrite."

"No, it wasn't like that. I mean, I never went out. There wasn't any need for a curfew."

"Well, what about Phoebe, then?" Chakotay probed.

"I suppose she stopped getting them at around 18, like you."

"I think the thing to remember here is that Dani just turned sixteen. The rules will have to change as she gets older, but right now, I think 2400 is reasonable."

Xxx

Chakotay paced the living area. He looked at the chronometer on the wall. It was 0200 hours, and Dani still hadn't returned from the holodeck.

"I'm going to go get her," Chakotay declared.

"No," Kathryn protested. "Let's giver her a few more minutes."

"A few more minutes? She's had two hours."

"Computer, locate Dani Janeway," Kathryn commanded. The computer responded that Dani was on this deck. Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other. That meant she was close. "Computer - lights." The room instantly became dark.

Dani stopped in front of the doors of her quarters. 'Maybe I shouldn't go in,' she thought. 'But if I were any later, I'd just be in more trouble. Maybe I'll get lucky, and they won't be up.' She punched in the security access code. She got it wrong the first time, partly because she was so tired and partly because she was worried about what might happen when the door open opened. She got the code on the second try and the doors slid open. She looked around the room before she went in. It was completely dark. 'Maybe this won't be so bad, after all.'

Dani walked in. The doors slid closed behind her, and she was enveloped in the darkness. She stood still for a moment before walking on, so that her eyes could adjust to the darkness. 'Now, if I can just get to my room...' She tip-toed across the living area to her room. She had expected to hear the whoosh of her doors sliding open when she approached the door, but she didn't. She felt...a presence. A person. Someone was standing in between her and her bedroom. She sighed. The jig was up. "Computer - lights." Light immediately flooded the room, and Dani saw that it was her father who was barring the way to her room. Dani turned around. Her mother was standing in the doorway of hers and Chakotay's bedroom. Dani looked back at her father. Busted!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

At the present, Dani stopped walking at the entrance of Holodeck 2. As she walked in, she remembered the punishment she'd endured because of that little party stint. The verbal lashing that she'd received that night had been bad, but it didn't even compare to the punishment. Her father had woken her up at 0500 later on that morning and had made her run the decks and crawl through the jeffries tubes wearing a 25-pound survival backpack. By the time she'd finished she was about to die of exhaustion. She was out of breath, her entire body hurt, and her shoulders felt like they were about to fall off. But that hadn't been all. After that, there had been work to do. She had spent the rest of the day removing microparticles from the transporter pad with an impossibly inefficient hand tool. And when someone had to transport down to the planet they were orbiting, she'd had to start all over again. So, not only had she been sore from running the decks and jeffries tubes, but also bruised from kneeling on the transporter pad all day. She would have gladly taken kitchen duty over that punishment.

Dani stood in the middle of the hologrid. "Computer, run program 'House Party.'" The room was immediately transformed into a wild party, with loud music, dim lights, and an abundance of people.

Dani looked at the chronometer on her wrist. It was 2000 hours. When she looked up, she spotted Harry's face among others in the large crowd.

'Punctual Harry,' Dani thought, as she started to weave through the crowd toward him.

She called his name jumping up and down, "Harry!"

Harry looked up when he heard his name. He spotted Dani and started to make his way toward her.

"Hi!" Dani shouted after she and Harry had finally reached each other.

"Hey!" Harry yelled.

"So, what do you think?" Dani asked.

"Well..." Harry looked around the room at the rest of the party. "It's certainly not what I expected!"

"Well, what did you expect?"

"I don't know! Something a little more...tame, maybe!" Harry admitted. "I mean, you are the Captain's daughter!"

"Maybe!" Dani agreed. "But what does that have to do with anything? Let's get one thing straight-just because I'm the Captain's daughter doesn't mean I don't know how to have a good time!" She grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him deeper into the crowd.

Dani and Harry partied hearty that night. It seemed that Harry could never really get into it, though. The same couldn't be said about Dani. She did this all the time. She was in her natural element.

Although she'd written beer into the program, her mother had made her remove it. It was no big loss, though. "Replicated beer was never as good as the real thing," her mother had said. The beer had been replaced by soft drinks from the era that the program simulated - the late twentieth century.

After the party, Harry walked Dani back to her quarters.

"I had a good time, tonight," Dani said. "It was nice to have a real party companion for once instead of having to simulate one."

"I had good time, too," Harry said rubbing his ear. It was a lie, and Dani knew it. She smiled.

"It's not nice to lie, Harry," Dani admonished gently. "I know you felt like you were out of your element. You probably had a miserable time."

"No. It was definitely something new," Harry insisted. "I'd always heard about wild parties at the Academy, but I never went. It was just never my scene."

"I know." Dani looked down at her hands and then back up at Harry. "Harry, you were a really great date. But, honestly, I felt like I was going out with an older brother tonight. I think we should see each other just as friends."

"I think that's a good idea," Harry agreed.

"You're not just saying that because you're afraid to date the Captain's daughter, are you?"

Harry smiled. "No."

"That wasn't always the case, so I hear."

"Tom told you." Dani nodded and smiled. "I'm gonna kill him."

"No, don't. We were talking about it, and it just sort of slipped. He really hadn't meant to tell." Harry's expression softened somewhat. Dani kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for a great night, Harry." She turned and walked into her quarters.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

When Dani walked into the mess hall, she saw that Icheb was sitting at a table by the window waiting for her. As Dani approached the table, the Borg-human looked up at her. His face seemed to brighten a little at the sight of her.

Dani walked over to the table and sat down across from Icheb.

"Hi," Dani said.

"Hello," Icheb said.

Chakotay and Kathryn walked into the mess hall. They stopped short when they saw Icheb and Dani at a table together.

"They sure have been spending a lot of time together lately," Kathryn observed.

"Yes," Chakotay agreed. "At least she's not on the holodeck." He and Kathryn looked at each other.

"True," Kathryn said. She watched Dani and thought back to a time when she would never have allowed her daughter to socialize with a Borg drone. They seemed to be getting along so well. "Maybe we should join them," Kathryn suggested, already starting to walk over to Icheb and Dani's table. Chakotay reached out and touched her arm.

"No," Chakotay said. Kathryn looked at him. "She just turned 18 a few days ago. Don't you remember when you were her age? You didn't want your parents hanging around your friends, did you?"

Kathryn felt as if she'd just been insulted. She squared her shoulders. "But I'm-"

"-her mother," Chakotay said, finishing her sentence for her. His ending differed from what hers would have been, however. "Come on."

Giving one last look to Dani and her companion, Kathryn abandoned her mission and followed Chakotay to a table on the other side of the room.

Xxx

Icheb and Dani walked through the doors into her quarters. They sat down on the couch in the living room and looked at each other.

'The things he must know,' Dani thought, her eyes tracing over Icheb's face, from his dark hair to the cortical implant near his left eye to his nose ridges.

"What's it like?" she asked him.

"What is 'what' like?" Icheb asked.

"Being you," Dani asked. Then she realized how absurd this must've sounded to Icheb. "I mean, you used to be part of the Borg collective. What was it like?"

Icheb looked at the table in front of them for a moment, while he gathered his reply.

"It was...comforting," he finally said, looking back at Dani.

Dani was a little surprised. Comforting wasn't exactly the term she would use to describe the collective. Then again, she had never actually been apart of the collective.

"Comforting?" Dani asked.

"Yes." Icheb went on. "Every thought circulated throughout the collective. One was never alone. That is how it was comforting."

"Do you ever miss it?" Dani asked him.

Icheb thought for a few more moments before answering, "No. I do not."

"Were you happy there?"

"Emotion was irrelevant."

"It's not irrelevant now," Dani said. Both she and Icheb thought about this for a moment. "Are you happy on Voyager?"

Icheb looked at Dani. There was an expression of revelation on his face. "Yes," he said.

Dani smiled. Icheb smiled also.

"I'm glad you're here, Icheb," Dani said.

"So am I," Icheb said. "I enjoy your company." He looked away from her, and his smile faded.

"What's the matter?" Dani asked, noticing the change that had taken place in him.

"I am unsure," Icheb said. "I am experiencing...feelings unfamiliar to me."

"Can you describe them?" Dani asked. Icheb didn't answer her. "Icheb?"

Icheb looked at Dani. He started to speak. "I..."

"Yes?" Dani encouraged.

Icheb looked at Dani. Then he unexpectedly leaned over and kissed her.

Xxx

"I think they have lot in common," Chakotay said. He and Kathryn were on their way from the mess hall to their quarters. "They both had to learn how to accept tremendous changes in their lives. Icheb had to learn how to live away from the collective; Dani had to learn how to live away from Earth. I think they could have some very interesting conversations. They could become very good friends."

Kathryn and Chakotay stopped walking. They had reached their quarters.

"Do you think they could become more than friends?" Kathryn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know," was Chakotay's reply. "Do you?"

Kathryn smiled. "Nooo... Dani and Icheb?" She shook her head. "No."

"You never know," Chakotay said, smiling. "There have been stranger pairings. Tom and B'Elanna, Neelix and Kes...you and I." Kathryn looked at him before stepping up to the doors. They slid open and she and Chakotay walked in. They both stopped dead in their tracks. Dani and Icheb were on the couch engaged in a kiss. Before they could retreat back out the door, Icheb and Dani parted and looked up at them. Everyone remained frozen, not knowing how to proceed. Then Icheb stood.

"Captain," he said. "I...we..."

Chakotay held up his hand. Icheb had addressed Kathryn, but she was still too stunned to say anything. "There's no need to explain, Icheb. It's alright."

"We did not mean any harm," Icheb explained.

Dani stood beside Icheb. "Icheb, it's alright. We didn't do anything wrong." She looked at her parents. "Did we?"

All the color had drained from Kathryn's face. She looked as if she'd just seen a ghost.

"No," Chakotay said, answering Dani's question. "You didn't."

Dani turned to Icheb. "We'll talk a little later, Icheb."

"I must apologize for this incident," Icheb said.

"Don't worry about it."

Icheb walked over to Chakotay and Kathryn. Kathryn's expression had changed very little.

"I apologize sincerely," Icheb said.

"It's okay, Icheb," Chakotay said. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Icheb looked at Chakotay and then at Kathryn. He looked at Chakotay and nodded slightly before leaving.

Dani walked around the couch to Chakotay and Kathryn. Her father seemed to be okay, but her mother looked quite shell-shocked.

"Dad, could you give us a minute?" Dani asked.

"Sure," Chakotay said. He walked across the room and into his and Kathryn's bedroom.

Dani looked at Kathryn.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

Kathryn blinked a few times. "Uh-huh. Yes."

"Um...I don't know what to say," Dani said.

"Me either," said Kathryn. "For a change."

Dani smiled. "Well, what are you thinking, then?"

It was Kathryn's turn to smile. "That you're not my little girl anymore." Dani smiled sheepishly at Kathryn.

"Are you mad?" Dani asked.

Kathryn shook her head. "No. Come on; let's sit." They both walked over and sat down on the couch. "I'm not mad at you, Dani. It's just that this is a little...surreal to me. The idea of you...you know, when I look at you, I still see that twelve year-old little girl who sneaked aboard five years ago. It's taken this to make me realize that you're becoming a young woman. I suppose I should start treating you as such."

Dani studied Kathryn's expression, as if trying to predict what she was going to say next.

Kathryn continued. "I'm sending an away team down to the planet's surface to collect dilithium. How would you like to go with them?" Voyager had recently arrived at an M-class planet that, the sensors had detected, contained vast deposits of dilithium.

"What?" Dani asked. Her mother had never let her go down to a planet surface without her before. And even when Kathryn had beamed down with her, it hadn't been on an away mission. It had just been shore leave.

"B'Elanna will be leading the away team. Tom and Seven will accompany her."

Now, Dani was really surprised. Her mother wasn't sending her father with them.

"You're not sending Dad?"

"No. Your father and I will remain on board."

Dani couldn't believe her own ears. "Are you serious?" she asked. "I mean, you're not kidding me, are you?"

Kathryn shook her head. "No. You're on your own on this one."

Dani looked at Kathryn. Kathryn nodded. Dani couldn't believe it; her mother was actually letting her leave the nest. She leaned over and put her arms around her mother.

"Oh, Mom..." Dani said. "Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Dani was so excited to actually be on an official away mission. Even if it was only to collect dilithium samples. Even though her mother, and later, her father, had assured her they were serious about it, Dani still hadn't believed it until she had dematerialized on the transporter pad with Tom, B'Elanna, and Seven.

The away team materialized on the rocky, dry planet surface. The four members of the team, including Dani, pulled our their tricorders and started scanning the area. Kathryn had decided to let Dani participate as an active member of the team, carrying a tricorder and a phaser. She thought it would make her feel as important to the mission as the rest of the team, and it would provide her with good experience working with a team.

"This way," B'Elanna said, leading the away team into a nearby cave.

On _Voyager's_ bridge, Kathryn shifted nervously in her seat and crossed her legs. It wasn't two minutes before she shifted again, crossing and uncrossing her legs. There was no denying it - Capt. Kathryn Janeway was nervous. And with good reason. Her only daughter was on her first away mission. She was only 18. Maybe this was too soon for her. Maybe this had been a mistake...

Kathryn uncrossed her legs and tapped her left foot repeatedly on the floor. When that didn't satisfy her, she stood. Chakotay looked up at her. She took a few steps toward the view screen, stopped, and turned back to her chai, walking back to it.

Chakotay stood. He had to put an end to this. Kathryn turned again. She was about to walk back to the view screen when Chakotay grabbed her arm and stepped close to her. She looked up at him and sighed.

"I know, I know," Kathryn said. "It's just so hard. I should've at least sent a security team with them."

"Why? To protect them from the rocks?" Chakotay quipped. "The dilithium?"

Kathryn knew that Chakotay was only speaking the truth. "Kathryn, they'll be fine," Chakotay assured her. She looked up at him and sighed. "Now, come, and sit down." Chakotay escorted Kathryn back to her seat.

Chakotay's words had calmed Kathryn somewhat, however nothing would put her completely at ease, not even hearing from Dani, herself, that she was okay. That reminded her - B'Elanna should've reported back to her on what they'd found by now. Before the thought had even left her mind, Kathryn's comm badge chirped.

_"Torres to Janeway,"_ B'Elanna's voice drifted from the comm badge.

Kathryn stood, bringing her hand to the brooch resting on her chest. "Janeway here," she said. "Go ahead."

_"Captain, we've located the dilithium deposits,_" B'Elanna said._ "They're in a cave a few meters from our landing site."_

"When do you think we'll be able to send excavation crews down, Lt.?" Kathryn asked.

_"Oh, immediately, Captain,"_ B'Elanna replied optimistically.

"Good work, B'Elanna," Kathryn praised. Despite her overwhelming concern for her daughter, she resisted the urge to ask about Dani. "Janeway out." Kathryn looked down at Chakotay. He was silent, but his eyes were saying, "I told you so."

Xxx

B'Elanna turned to her team. It was time to go. "We just got the okay from the Captain," she announced. "She's sending evacuation crews down."

"There must be enough dilithium down here to last at least a year," Tom remarked.

B'Elanna snapped her tricorder shut. She was about to announce that they should get back to the shuttle when a troop of Kazon warriors stormed into the cave. In one swift motion, Tom drew his phaser and fired. The phaser blast hit one of the Amazon squarely in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

Xxx

"Captain, I'm picking up phaser discharge readings from below the surface!" Harry reported from the ops station.

Kathryn stood and looked at the young ensign. She tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Torres. B'Elanna, what's going on down there?"

_"Captain, we've got Kazon down here!"_ B'Elanna was shouting over the phaser fire.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Kathryn asked, addressing no one in particular. She looked at Harry again. "Why didn't our sensors pick them up?"

"I don't know, Captain," Harry replied.

"Are sensors picking up any Kazon ships now?" Chakotay asked.

"No," was Harry's bewildered reply.

"Can you get a lock on our team?" Kathryn waited while Harry worked frantically trying to find any kind of way out of this sudden mess.

"There's too much interference from the planet's upper atmosphere," Harry said.

Kathryn heart was starting to race now. "Can you compensate?" she asked.

"I can try."

Kathryn activated her comm badge again. "Janeway to Torres."

_"Torres here,"_ B'Elanna replied.

"Harry's going to try to get a lock on you. How long do you think you can hold them off?"

Xxx

Below the planet's surface, B'Elanna fired her phaser from behind the boulder she was using for cover.

"I don't know!" B'Elanna shouted, replying to the Captain's question. "Not very long!" She fired again. Then she turned around and pressed her back against the rock. She stole a glance at Dani. She'd almost forgotten that the girl had come along. Dani was holding her own with the Kazon, firing her phaser at them and doing very well. 'Way to go, Dani,' B'Elanna thought. She felt a phaser blast shoot past her head, and she turned back to continue the impromptu battle.

Kathryn paced the area in front of hers and Chakotay's chairs. There was nothing she could do until Harry got a transporter lock on the team. But what if he didn't get a lock? What then? Would they be able to hold the Kazon off until she could send re-enforcements? What if-

"Captain, I have a lock!" Harry announced. Kathryn stopped pacing and turned to Harry.

"Get them out of there, Mr. Kim!" Kathryn commanded. Harry was already in the process before she even finished giving the command.

Xxx

B'Elanna, Tom, Seven, and Dani all watched in horror as the number of Kazon warriors doubled. All of them had their weapons raised and pointed at the _Voyager_ away team. B'Elanna looked back at Tom, Dani, and Seven. Dani - she was so young. And she was facing this with so much courage. She didn't look scared at all. That was one trait Chakotay and the Captain had definitely passed on to her.

B'Elanna took a deep breath, turned around, and prepared to fire. The away team might not win, but they could at least try. Just then, the room started to fade into the blue particles of a transporter beam. They were being beamed out!

"Got 'em, Captain!" Harry exclaimed. He looked from his console at the Captain with a smile on his face. Kathryn breathed a big sigh of relief. She heard Chakotay do the same.

The blue transporter beam particles faded to the safe confines of _Voyager's_ transporter room.

"Oh, thank God," Tom exhaled as he stepped off the transporter pad. Seven stepped off next. Then B'Elanna. "That was a little close for comfort," Tom said.

B'Elanna stopped walking. Something wasn't right. It seemed like someone was...missing. She looked at Tom and Seven, and then back at the now-empty transporter pad. It hit her like a lightening bolt. She hit her comm badge.

"Captain, we have a problem!"

Xxx

Dani looked around the cave. The rest of the away team was gone! She was alone!

"Drop your weapon, now!" one of the Kazon ordered. Dani didn't have any choice. She was hopelessly outnumbered. She slowly stood, tossing her weapon to the ground.

Xxx

Kathryn looked at Chakotay with disbelief upon hearing the dreadful news. Chakotay had a similar look on his face. Kathryn had sat down, but she was now back on her feet.

"Harry," she said. She watched the young man work frantically at his station. He shook his head.

"I can't get her," he said. He continued working anyway. "Getting them the first time was a miracle in itself." He suddenly stopped working.

"What is it, Mr. Kim?" Kathryn asked. Harry hesitated a few moments before looking at Kathryn. "Mr. Kim?"

"I've lost her signal completely," Harry said, finally looking up from his console.

Kathryn felt as if the wind had just been knocked from her. Her daughter was now in the hands of those Kazon vultures.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Dani struggled in vain to pull her arms free from the chains that bound her to the chair, but only succeeded in deepening the cuts the chains had created in her skin. She finally realized the futility of it and gave up.

A large metal door across the room opened. Dani watched it expectantly. Finally, someone walked into the room. It was a woman. As she drew nearer, realized that the woman was a Cardassian!

'In this area?' Dani thought. 'What is she doing here?' A million questions like this raced through Dani's mind.

The woman stepped up to Dani.

"Well, well, well..." she said, walking in a slow circle around Dani. "What have we here?" She stopped at Dani's left. Dani refused to look at her. She was angry, confused, and, most of all, scared to death. What did the Kazon and this Cardassian want? Did they want her specifically? Maybe they'd wanted the whole team and only gotten her because the transport had failed.

"What's your name?" the Cardassian asked. When Dani didn't answer, the woman walked around to the front of Dani and stooped so that the two were eye level to each other.

The woman looked into Dani's eyes. There was something familiar about them, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. "I said what's your name?" the woman repeated, more forcefully. Dani did nothing but glare at the woman in front of her.

The woman stood and looked down at Dani. She had seen that glare somewhere before. Someone else had looked at her like that in the past. That glare...and then she realized it - that was the icy cold stare of Captain Kathryn Janeway!

The woman leaned down to get a better look at her captive, just to be sure. She looked into her eyes once again. 'No,' the woman thought, 'it isn't Janeway.' She studied the girl a little longer. 'But they're definitely related,' she decided. She started to sort this out logically. This person was too young to be a sister. Even if she were, what was she doing here, in the Delta quadrant? No. That was a big 'if'.

The woman looked at the person in the chair again and saw something she hadn't noticed before. There was something around the girl's neck. A small necklace. She picked it up off the young woman's neck with her finger and examined it. She immediately recognized the miniature symbol that hung on the small chain. "Chakotay..." slipped from her lips.

Dani looked up at the Cardassian woman. How did she know her father? The woman looked from the necklace to Dani. She knew she'd hit home when she'd uttered Chakotay's name. And suddenly she saw it. That look of angry surprise that Chakotay, her former lover, had so mastered. That glare she'd gotten from the Starfleet captain so many times before. This was the daughter of Janeway and Chakotay.

The woman stood up straight. It was time to visit some old "friends."

"Captain, I'm picking up a Kazon warship," Tom reported. He'd returned to his position at helm. He and the rest of the bridge crew had watched Kathryn practically go out of her mind trying to figure out a way to get her daughter back. But she didn't have the slightest idea where to even start. They hadn't picked up anything remotely Kazon - until now, that is. Chakotay had remained calm on the outside, however one look in his dark eyes revealed that he was feeling everything Kathryn was feeling - anger, frustration, hopelessness, fear. However, at the report of a Kazon ship nearby, the tiniest glimmer of hope had appeared in his eyes.

Kathryn looked at Tom. "Where?" she asked, referring to the warship.

"A few kilometers off our port bow," Tom replied.

Kathryn stood. "Onscreen," she said. The unattractive design of a Kazon warship appeared on the screen. "Mr. Kim?"

"I'm on it, Captain," Harry said. "Scanning for Dani's signal." After a few very tense moments, Harry finally spoke. "I've located her!" Kathryn turned to the young ops officer "...She's conscious, and there's someone with her."

"Kazon," Kathryn assumed.

Harry shook his head. "No, Captain." He looked up from the sensor readings. "Cardassian."

Chakotay stood and looked at Kathryn, then at Harry. "Cardassian?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. Female." Chakotay looked at Kathryn again. They were both thinking the same thing, but...no, it couldn't be. What would she be doing in the Delta quadrant? And with the Kazon, at that?

"Captain, we're being hailed!"

"On screen," Kathryn commanded. The view screen flickered, and a familiar face filled the screen. Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other. They hadn't wanted to believe it, but here she was staring them and the rest of the bridge crew in the face.

"Seska..." Tom said, hardly believing his eyes.

"Yes, Tom," Seska said smoothly. "It's me. Long time, no see, eh?" Seska looked from the pilot to the Captain. "Well, well, well...hello, Captain..." She looked at the first officer. "...Chakotay..." She looked at Kathryn once again. "It seems we've arrived at a very interesting situation."

"I want my crew member back," Kathryn said pointedly.

"Oh, come now, Captain," Seska said coyly. "Let's not beat around the bush. We both know she's not really a member of your crew." Seska saw Kathryn give a nervous glance to Chakotay. "She's your daughter."

Kathryn's first instinct was to deny it, but she decided against it. Instead, she asked, "What makes you think that?"

"Well, you do have to admit that it is rather obvious. She looks just like you..." Seska looked at Chakotay. "...and her father."

Chakotay stepped up and stood beside Kathryn. "If you lay one finger on her-"

"She is quite beautiful," Seska interrupted. "You did a good job. She hasn't said a word."

"If you hurt her, Seska, I promise you won't live long enough to even realize the mistake you've made," Chakotay threatened.

"Commander," Kathryn said sternly.

"Yes, _Commander_," Seska mocked. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."

Kathryn looked at Seska's face on the view screen.

"What do you want, Seska?" Kathryn asked. "Name your price."

"My asking price is too great," Seska said.

"You have my daughter," Kathryn said. "No price is too great. Just tell me what I have to do to get her back."

Seska's gaze fell on Chakotay. Everyone knew what - or rather, who - she wanted.

"If I don't have what I want in exactly one hour, I'll kill her."

Kathryn looked at Chakotay, whose eyes remained fixed on the image displayed on the screen.

"I'll be there," Chakotay said.

"Good. I'm glad we see eye-to-eye." The view screen flickered and Seska's image disappeared.

"Commander, my ready-room - now," Kathryn ordered. However, it wasn't in her usual command tone that she gave the order. It was more...fragile.

"Yes, Captain," Chakotay said, walking past Kathryn in the direction of her ready-room. Kathryn turned and followed Chakotay's path. She stopped at the tactical station.

"Tuvok, you have the bridge," she said without looking up.

"Aye, Captain," Tuvok replied.

Kathryn hesitated before walking into her ready-room. As soon as the doors slid shut behind her, her demeanor deteriorated from the tough captain to the worried mother. She and Chakotay looked at each other. She walked over to her desk and leaned against it. She bowed her head and brought one hand to her forehead.

"They've got her," Kathryn said. She sighed. "They've got her."

Chakotay walked over to Kathryn. "But we're going to get her back, Kathryn," he said.

Kathryn looked up at Chakotay. "How do we know Seska won't kill her once you get over there?"

"Because I won't let her," Chakotay said confidently.

Kathryn looked away. "This is all my fault," she said. "I never should've let her go on that away mission."

"Kathryn, she couldn't stay locked in our quarters forever."

"I know. I just..." Her eyes were filming over with tears that she was desperately trying to hold back. She wasn't a woman who cried easily, but what kind of a mother would she be if she couldn't even allow herself to cry for her own daughter? The tears flowed over, and she didn't even make a move to wipe them away. She stood and few steps towards the middle of the room.

"...I just wanted to..." She couldn't find the words. Chakotay walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She went nearly limp in his arms.

Xxx

"Well, it looks as if you could be getting out of here pretty soon." Seska walked into the room in which Dani was being held. The girl looked up at her. "I thought that might get your attention." Seska stooped in front of Dani. They looked at each other, and Seska continued.

"It seems your father will be joining us. If everything goes well, you'll be on your way home."

Dani spoke for the first time since she'd been in Seska's captivity. "And if everything doesn't go well?"

Seska didn't reply. She just smiled. But it wasn't a friendly or comforting smile. It did everything but comfort Dani. In fact, it frightened her.

Dani's eyes fell on the figure who had appeared in the doorway beyond Seska. Seska didn't have to turn around to know that it was a messenger. She stood. Her package hd arrived. She turned and walked toward the door and the messenger.

Xxx

Chakotay stood in a corridor on the Kazon vessel. Before he had even completely materialized, he was surrounded by armed guards. Immediately, one of the guards reached out and snatched his comm badge off his chest. The guard stepped back and looked at it curiously. Chakotay looked past the guards and saw a familiar figure walking towards him. As the figure neared, Chakotay realized that it was Seska. The guards parted, creating a path for her.

"Chakotay," Seska said. "So glad you could join us."

"Where's Dani?" Chakotay asked strait-forwardly.

"So, that's her name?" Seska asked. "Dani? She wouldn't tell me." She took a step closer to Chakotay. "You and Janeway taught her well."

"We didn't teach her anything she didn't need to know," Chakotay said.

"True," Seska agreed. She took a step closer to Chakotay and tried to stroke his face. He moved before she could touch him. She withdrew her hand. "I see you've let your hair grow out-"

"-Let's skip the small talk, Seska," Chakotay interrupted. "You said you'd let her go when I got here, and I'm here."

"Not so fast," Seska said. "What's the rush?"

"I just want my daughter out of here." Seska took a few steps back from Chakotay. He eyed her suspiciously. "You haven't hurt her, have you?"

Seska looked sincerely hurt. "Of course not. What kind of person do you think I am?"

"One who threatened to kill my daughter."

"If you'll follow me," Seska said in a sickeningly polite tone. Chakotay followed Seska past the Kazon. He walked a few paces behind her, while the Kazon guards walked directly behind him. One of the guards' guns poked lightly into his back with each step.

Chakotay followed Seska into a room. The guards followed. Chakotay's eyes instantly fell on the figure bound to the chair in the middle of the room.

"Dani!" He tried to run to her, but two of the guards restrained him with their guns. Dani looked at him.

"Dad!" she said.

Chakotay looked at Seska, his anger flaring.

"You tied her up?!" he exclaimed. "She's not a criminal."

"But she is a prisoner," Seska argued. "You're telling me you wouldn't restrain your prisoner? Come now, Chakotay; you know I know you better than that."

Chakotay looked at Dani again. "You have me. Now let her go."

"You know, I'm not sure if I should," Seska said. Chakotay looked at her. His eyes remained fixed on her as she walked towards Dani. Seska turned to face Chakotay once again. "What do you think, Culluh?"

Chakotay noticed that Seska was looking past him at someone else. He turned to see a rather large Kazon warrior standing behind him. The guard backed off, allowing the new-comer passage.

'This is the First Maje, the leader,' Chakotay thought. He could tell by the silent authority he had over all the others.

Culluh stepped around Chakotay, into the open space in front of Dani and Seska.

"I think she could prove to be a very valuable prisoner, the daughter of a Federation captain," the Kazon leader said. He walked up to Dani. "We could accomplish many things with this one."

"Over my dead body," Chakotay growled. The crewmen held him in place.

"We could carry out that request with very little effort, I assure you, Chakotay, but I was so sure you'd want to go a different route," Seska said.

"She's very attractive, Federation," Culluh said to Chakotay. He bent down to Dani. "Tell me - do you dance?"

Looking him directly in the eye, Dani spit in Culluh's face. The Kazon immediately retaliated by slapping Dani across the face. She closed her eyes. She was stunned more than hurt. No one had ever done that to her before. She refused to cry, to give Culluh the satisfaction. Instead, she looked back up at the Maje. She looked him dead in the eye and didn't even falter.

Chakotay had to be restrained by three guards. When he realized his attempts to get to his daughter were futile, he looked at Seska.

"Seska, stop this!" he half-pleaded, half-ordered. "This is between me and you. Leave her out of this! Send her back to _Voyager_. Please."

"It's not my call to make," Seska said, shrugging.

"Bring him to me," Culluh ordered, still looking down at Dani. The guards obediently walked Chakotay over to Culluh. Two guards held him, while one tied his hands behind his back. They forced him down on his knees.

"You're going to do this to me in front of my own child?" Chakotay asked. "Can't you leave me with even a little dignity?" He was answered by a hard blow to the face, which he was sure left a bruise almost instantly. He was also sure that it wasn't the last he was to receive. There were more to come.

"I guess that's a no," Chakotay said. He promptly received another blow to the face. This one more or less landed on his jaw.

"Tell me _Voyager's_ command codes," Culluh ordered.

"No," Chakotay refused. Culluh punched him again, splitting his lower lip.

"I want _Voyager's_ command codes," Culluh repeated.

"No!"

Culluh hit Chakotay again, this time, bruising his eye. "The codes!"

"I'd die before I handed them over to you," Chakotay said. Culluh backhanded Chakotay, sending him across the floor.

"I'd reconsider if I were you," Culluh suggested threateningly. He kicked Chakotay once in the stomach. Chakotay rolled onto his back. "Untie them," Culluh ordered, walking to the door. The crewmen proceeded to untie Dani. One of them picked Chakotay up, threw him onto his stomach, and untied his wrists. They then left.

Dani fell to her father's side. Seska bent down to Chakotay. "Please, Chakotay," she pleaded with mock concern, "don't make this harder on yourself. Tell us the command codes. If not for yourself, then for your daughter." Seska touched Dani's face. Dani immediately moved out of her grasp. Seska stood.

"I'll give you a little time to think it over," she said before leaving the room.

Dani looked down at Chakotay. "Dad?"

"I'm fine," Chakotay said. He started to sit up. "A few bruises and scrapes. Ah!"

"Easy," Dani said, helping Chakotay to a sitting position. Chakotay leaned against the wall and closed his swollen eyes.

"A broken rib," he said, wincing in pain. "Or five."

"Dad..."

"I'll be fine," Chakotay said. He opened his eyes and looked at Dani. A nasty bruise was starting to form on her face where Culluh had hit her. "What about you?"

Dani instinctively touched the area right under her eye. "Me? I'm fine."

"Does it hurt much?"

"Smarts a little. It probably looks worse than it actually is." Dani moved and sat against the wall beside Chakotay. She felt like resting her head on his shoulder, but she was afraid it might be injured. "Well, what do we do now?"

"We wait," Chakotay said. "Your mother's probably already realized that you should've been back a long time ago. At least that's the way it would've worked out in our plan."

"What about you?"

"We hadn't gotten that far in the plan, yet."

Xxx

Kathryn paced around the bridge. Neither Seska nor Chakotay had contacted her in almost an hour.

"This is taking too long," Kathryn observed. "We should've heard something by now." She stopped pacing and turned to Harry. "Harry do we have anything, yet?"

"No, Captain. I'm not picking up Dani any more, and I've lost the Commander's comm badge signal, too."

Kathryn tapped her own comm badge. "Janeway to engineering. B'Elanna?"

"Torres here, Captain," B'Elanna said.

"B'Elanna, have you found out anything new?" Kathryn asked.

"Yes, Captain," B'Elanna said. "We've confirmed that there is, in fact, a dampening field that's blocking Chakotay's and Dani's signals. We're working on a way to cut through and locate them now."

"Good. Keep working. I don't know how much time we have."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

"Keep me posted. Janeway out." Kathryn tapped her comm badge again, ending the transmission. She resumed her pacing.

Xxx

Dani opened her eyes at the sound of the doors sliding open. It was the loud sound of two metal objects sliding past each other. She looked in the direction of the door and saw Culluh, Seska, and four Kazon crewmen enter the room. The four crewmen pulled Dani and Chakotay to their feet. Culluh stepped up to the battered Chakotay.

"Are you prepared to tell me what I want to hear, Federation?" Culluh asked.

"I told you," Chakotay began, "I'd rather die than give them to you."

"Believe me, that's a very tempting offer, however, if you were dead, I still wouldn't have what I wanted," Culluh observed. He looked from Chakotay to Dani.

"She doesn't know them," Chakotay said before Culluh could go on.

"No," Culluh agreed, "but I wasn't going to ask her." He held out his hand. Seska placed a rifle in it. Culluh pointed the rifle at Dani's head.

Xxx

"Torres to Bridge!" B'Elanna exclaimed.

_"Bridge here,"_ Kathryn responded. _"What is it, Lt.?"_

"Captain, we've located Chakotay and Dani!" B'Elanna reported.

_"Can you get a lock?"_ the Captain's voice asked.

B'Elanna worked speedily at her console in engineering. "I've almost got them." Her fingers skipped over the sleek controls. If she didn't work fast...damn! "Captain, I've lost them!"

_"Get them back, Lt.!"_ Kathryn said desperately.

_"I'm trying,"_ B'Elanna replied.

Xxx

The Kazon leader looked at Chakotay. "Physical torture didn't work, so we have to take a different path. This rifle is set to kill. Tell me the codes, or I'll fire."

Dani and Chakotay looked at each other.

"Don't do it," Dani said to Chakotay. "Don't."

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Seska said.

"The codes," Culluh demanded.

Chakotay went over everything in his mind. If he didn't tell Culluh the codes, Dani - his only daughter, his pride and joy, his flesh and blood - would die; but if he did, everyone onboard _Voyager_ would surely perish. How was he supposed to choose? _Voyager_ or his own daughter?

"Tough call, Chakotay?" Seska asked. "You know, if you'd just given us the codes when we first asked for them, you wouldn't be in this situation right now...so what's it going to be, Chakotay?"

"The codes," Culluh demanded once more.

Xxx

"B'Elanna," Kathryn said, "What's our status?"

_"I've got them!"_ B'Elanna exclaimed.

"Get them out of there!"

Xxx

Chakotay had made his decision. He looked Culluh directly in the eye and said, "No."

"Have it your way," Seska said.

Dani looked at the rifle. She didn't think about dying, even though she knew her short life was about to come to an end. She thought about her life. She thought about the summers she and her parents had spent in Indiana when she was a little girl. She thought about the first time she'd ever tasted coffee or caramel brownies. She thought about the day her parents had brought Molly, her dog, home. She thought about her mother, her father. All these thoughts passed through her mind in a matter of seconds.

At the moment Dani expected to feel a rifle blast rip through her body, she saw the familiar blue light of _Voyager's_ transporter stream.

Xxx

"B'Elanna, do you have them?" Kathryn asked anxiously.

After a few moments delay, B'Elanna responded with, _"I've got them."_

"Transport them to sickbay immediately. Mr. Paris, get us out of here. Warp 5." Kathryn started for the turbolift. "Mr. Tuvok, you have the bridge."

Xxx

When Kathryn walked into sickbay, Dani and Chakotay were on biobeds. The Doctor was using the osteoregenerator on Chakotay. Kathryn was overjoyed to see that both were conscious.

"Dani!" Kathryn said.

"Mom!" Dani jumped off the biobed and ran into her mother's waiting arms. Kathryn looked Dani over, stroking her hair, touching her to make sure she was really there.

"Are you alright?" Kathryn asked. She placed her hand on Dani's chin and turned her head so that she could study the dark bruise under her eye.

"I'm fine," Dani said. "Dad's the one whose really hurt." She turned and looked at Chakotay. So did Kathryn.

"Chakotay..." Kathryn said. She walked over to the biobed on which he was sitting. Dani followed.

"I'm fine," Chakotay said. "It's just a few broken ribs. Some cuts and bruises."

"You're very lucky you only sustained one kick," the Doctor said. "Anymore would have damaged some of your internal organs." The Doctor waved a dermal regenerator over the bruises on Chakotay's face. "It looks like we picked you up at just the right time."

"Actually, I wasn't the one in danger when we transported," Chakotay admitted. Kathryn looked at Dani.

"There was a phaser rifle pointed right at my head," Dani said. " A few seconds later, and there wouldn't have been anything to transport."

Kathryn embraced Dani again. This time, Chakotay joined in.

Dani looked up at her parents. "You know," she started, "I have a question."

"Okay," Kathryn said. "What is it?"

"It's about home," Dani elaborated.

"Go ahead," Chakotay urged.

Dani looked at her mother and then her father, and then she asked, "Are we there, yet?"


End file.
